The opportunity to learn Italian is often overlooked in favour of studying the top three foreign languages emphasised in our school system: French, German and Spanish.

That is not to say that Italian is not offered by our national curriculum, just that students are less likely to select Italian as their second language.

A study conducted by the British Council reveals that the language of Dante Alighieri is the seventh most popular language at A Level, with the ranks of Italian learners remaining stable from GCSE upwards.

The number of test takers choosing Italian does not compare to those who sit for the French exam.

In the UK, only around five thousand students prove their Italian language skills each year, compared to the one hundredandfifty thousand who sit for French exams.

Nevertheless, Italian remains a language elective for students at secondary school, all the way through A Levels and into university.

Could it be that you are a native Italian speaker and wish to make use of your language skills to improve your marks on your exams?

Maybe you are a second-generation English-Italian, and have thus been bilingual all of your life.

Now, closing in on your exams, you wish to formalise your learning – drill in Italian grammar and learn all of the rules.

Find out why las cosas bellas in Italian translates to the beautiful things – in other words: why word order is reversed.

Italian Studies and GCSE Preparation

Your last year in secondary school focuses intently on everything you need to know prior to sitting for your final exam.

Science, maths and English may occupy nearly all of your study time. What about your language studies?

Rome was not built in one day.

This adage reflects the idea that anything meant to be permanent requires time, care and effort to build.

If you intend to retain and use all of the Italian words and phrases you learned in your language courses, you will have to expand on them – and other aspects of Italian language learning, until you sit for your General Certificate.

You should also develop a strong knowledge base of Italian history and culture; aspects of the Italian learning experience that may only have been glossed over during your mandated language classes.

The focus of your Italian studies is predicated upon your goals.

If you have absolutely fallen in love with our favorite romance language, to the point that your entire future hinges on your ability to use the proper verb tense and express yourself fluently, your studies should be all-encompassing.

Conversely, if you have opted for Italian classes because your mates have all chosen to, you might be satisfied learning only Basic Italian.

Either way, you will most likely spend a great deal of time studying the written word: reading comprehension and the ability to write in Italian.

Italian music: from Andrea Bocelli to opera, what the Italian music scene offers the world

Italian architecture: from the Vatican to the Tower of Pisa, how building design has impacted the world

Of course, you would be speaking Italian during these discussions. Of course, you Italian pronunciation as well as vocabulary would be assessed.

The second portion of the AS exam covers reading and writing.

Overall, the emphasis is on fluency in writing.

Essay prompts will be both oral and written, with the intent of gauging comprehension in both methods of communication.

You will have two and a half hours to compose your thoughts and put them on paper.

Italian spelling, word order, verb conjugation, and use of adjectives and adverbs all weigh on your ability to write and understand la lingua d’italia.

You must write a researched essay for your A Levels in Italian Source: Pixabay Credit: SSP

A2 Level Italian

This exam follows the pattern of the AS level, but with more intense focus on your ability to use new language in more diverse situations.

It also tests your ability to understand and respond to Italian audio, in following instructions and in debate.

Speaking Italian at this level should demonstrate a proficiency that comes from intensive language usage: perhaps an immersion program.

You are not expected to be fluent at this stage of your Italian language lessons. However, you should demonstrate yourself as advanced intermediate.

You could perhaps sojourn through Siena or Sardinia, picking up language along the way.

This suggestion is not as outlandish as you may think.

Schedules and finances permitting, spending a significant amount of time anywhere in Italy – Florence or Milan, if you are a fashionista, is perhaps the best way to imbue yourself with Italian language and culture.

If this type of immersive journey is out of your reach, you could chat with a native speaker online. There is no better way to improve your conversational Italian than, well, having Italian conversation!

The speaking and listening portion of the A2 requires you to speak Italian for thirteen minutes.

The written portion calls for you to submit a researched essay about life in Italy.

Here is where the intimate knowledge you gained of Italian schools, society and traditions during your stay in our favourite Boot will help you.

Where do you go from here?

Sitting for the IB will put the world of global enterprise in your hands Source: Pixabay Credit: Stokpic

The International Baccalaureate in Italian

When you elect to sit for Italian exams at A Levels, you are making it clear that Italian phrases will be a part of your everyday life.

Of course, your career field does not have to be language studies; you could focus on anthropology, architecture, history or art.

Equally clear: having sat for A Levels, you anticipate attending a university for more Italian courses.

In fact, the above-mentioned report compiled by the British Council reveals that most anyone who opts for Italian at GCSE level maintains their love of l’italiano throughout their academic career and beyond.

The trouble is, with societies around the world becoming more competitive, a university degree, even from the finest UK institutions, is not necessarily a passport to a better job.

If you aspire to be such a global citizen, you must surely intend to prove your knowledge of Italian through the International Baccalaureate.

Especially if you have just completed a few semesters at the University for Foreigners at Perugia.

This most rigorous of exams requires you to sit for six separate segments, including a foreign language component.

As you have been studying Italian for most of your academic career, wouldn’t that be your language of choice?

Another facet that you must choose for your IB – as the International Baccalaureate exam is known, is an aesthetics subject: music, art or theatre.

Molto Bene! That is where you will shine!

Again, we assert: learning a language means learning its culture.

That means the food, the music and movies, the art… everything about Italy.

As you have been compiling an Italian phrasebook over the years, as you have grown enamored with how to speak Italian; for all of the Italian articles you have read or composed, all of your dedication to learn a language comes down to this.

Every Italian language course has prepared you for this moment: validating your Italian vocabulary at the highest level possible.

Buona Fortuna!

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Sophia

A vagabond traveler whose first love is the written word, I advocate for continuous learning, cycling, and the joy only a beloved pet can bring. There is plenty else I am passionate about, but those three should do it, for now.